I have heard a variety of teachings and opinions about the end of times as we know it to be. They don’t all agree on the timeline of when Jesus will return, but they all agree that Jesus is coming again. When He does, it will mark an end of these times and a new order of creation will come with Jesus as The King. That much we are sure of from scripture.

The book of Revelation is a prophetic dream about the overview of Christianity, how this old order of things will pass away and a new order of things will begin. But the Bible doesn’t tell much about what this new order will be like. It leaves us to wonder, but gives us hope for a better day.

If we want a glimpse of this new order, we can look at the book of Genesis. It will be like God’s original creation.

So, I’m a word nerd, maybe the only one you know who has the Merriam-Webster dictionary app. on their phone. But I like definitions of words and am intrigued by the variety of meanings. This dictionary explains ‘good’ in 33 different ways. I’m sure God meant every one of those things and more, when He proclaimed what He made was very good.

When Satan approached Eve, what made him think he could offer something better than what God had already done? Everything was perfect and Satan was a created being himself. He was not the creator. He didn’t possess the ability to outshine God. He could only lie and deceive Eve. He connived and claimed to have a secret understanding of God’s abilities. And he is still doing that to us today. He tries to convince us he has something better to offer us than God does.

His biggest deception is shown when he approached Eve in the garden of paradise. This is what Eve tells Satan and his response to her.

Here is the deception. Up to that point, Eve and Adam had only known good. Those 33 and beyond definitions of good defined their world. What more could they want? Did they think God was holding out on them? His good was very good. But they chose to believe the lie of God’s enemy. They chose not to be satisfied with God’s best.

 

Here is the truth that is lived out in the Old Testament and still today. What Satan introduced was evil. And evil exists to annihilate good. It exists to make God’s goodness null and void. We see the evidence in the news daily.

But we live with a promise that God will restore all things to their original condition. It will come at the end of this age and we will live in God’s goodness forever.

Our admonition from the scriptures is to hold on to what we believe, don’t give up, and encourage others to do the same. We’re in this together and we could all use the comradery.

Many things will occur before we experience the new heaven and new earth. But the chief requirement is believing in Jesus, who was a sacrifice for all our sins, overcame death, and is now seated with God in the heavens. He came to show us how to restore a right relationship with God.

Before we can enter into this new order of creation, we must believe it is possible. Jesus was the first one of humanity that was born into this restored order. Even though He existed in the original created order, He entered the world to experience it so He could show us the way back to God in a world that is very good.